Sampa The Great has won the $30,000 Australian Music Prize

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Sampa The Great's mixtape Birds and The BEE9 has been voted the best album of last year.

Australian hip hop trailblazer Sampa The Great is the latest artist to take out the coveted Australian Music Prize for her 2017 release Birds and The BEE9.

Sampa was born in Zambia, raised in Botswana and moved to Sydney four years ago after a stint in San Francisco. Since landing here, she has taken charge of the local hip hop scene, fast becoming one of the most in-demand rappers in the country.

Birds and The BEE9 is Sampa The Great’s second mixtape, following on from The Great Mixtape that brought her to our attention back in 2015. The record features 13 compositions that show all sides of the rapper’s personality, beliefs and skills, and cemented her as one of the most exciting voices in the world of hip hop today.

Nine albums were shortlisted for the prize earlier this year, with established artists like Paul Kelly, Lairs and Jen Cloher mixing it with newer talent like HTMLflowers and Darcy Baylis.

The win sees Sampa The Great joins an esteemed list of artists that have previously won the prize, including rockers like Eddy Current Suppression Ring and The Drones, fellow hip hop acts Remi (who appears on this year’s winning album) and A.B. Original and world-beaters like Courtney Barnett.